Conceptualizing the Perceived Meaning of Workplace Spirituality and Religion in Higher Education Institution

Abstract

With the emergence of a significant number of studies on workplace spirituality and religion, this paper aims to comprehend the employee's insight regarding perception and understanding of the meaning of workplace spirituality and religion. The term workplace spirituality implies some form of religious connotation by many people. The crux of the problem is to answer the research question that what is workplace spirituality? The meaning of spirituality is so diverse that individuals are not able to comprehend the definition and agreed upon. Similarly, the confusion that spirituality is same as religion leads to inquire in the area of interest with reference to academic staff of public sector universities. Data were collected through interviews from 21 faculty members working in public sector universities and analyzed through thematic analysis. The study contributes to the fact that spirituality in the workplace is subjective in nature and a mixed perception about the similarity and difference of spirituality and religion in the workplace has been determined and most respondents perceived workplace spirituality as a separate concept apart from religion in organizations.